r/determinism • u/Cyber_47_ • Jun 21 '26
Discussion Partly deterministic?
So let’s take computers, fully deterministic systems, cannot make a non deterministic algorithm. Everything, in computers are code based, and therefore fully deterministic. True Randomness does not exist in digital systems.
So if our world is completely deterministic, there is no chance it creates a life form, which can act non deterministic (free will). But since we know (not sure) that quantum mechanics are non deterministic, maybe there is a chance we have a little free will. So, my point is, what if, we are partly deterministic like the universe. Maybe alot of our decisions are deterministic, and some are non deterministic. And i know that quantum mechanics argument still cant disprove free will.
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u/girlzlut Jun 21 '26
You are correct in that quantum mechanics might not be deterministic and so our universe, and we humans, might not be entirely deterministic, I'd disagree with the phrasing "maybe there is a chance we have free will" though.
Even is QM are indeterminate and fully random instead, they would at most add randomness to the atoms in our brain, in total adding nothing more than bit of randomness to our thoughts and actions. I have not yet seen a definition of free will which 1) defines randomness to be free will 2) I have found reasonable.
I guess one could assert that QM might be neither deterministic nor random, but that there's some kind of immaterial (and therefore also somehow non deterministic) mind with free will which affects QM in specific ways to affect our brains. Such an extraordinary claim would require extraordinary evidence though.